Women of Ancient Greece
Women of Ancient Greece had hard lives; they were treated as objects and were discriminated against because of their gender. Imagine being treated as an object, never being independent, and demanded to abide by certain rules. Although it was hard, over time their life gradually became better after trudging through some hard and painful times.
Women in early Greek societies were seen as objects, for example marriage in Ancient Greece. When the women were getting married the father would give her to the husband. Women never had a chance to be independent; they were always owned by someone whether it is their Father, husband, or male relative. Males were always over protective over women. Most women remained within their household. Although women in early Greek societies that were seen on the streets were either a prostitute, a slave, or so poor they are left on their own. Another
Women of Ancient Greece. Photograph by Tiana
reason why women were seen as objects was because girls were not taught how to read or write and didn’t go to school. The men feared that women would become too intelligent and argue with their husbands and males in general. In early Greek societies women from Athens seem to differ from women from Sparta. Women from Sparta had more freedom and could do more in the community. For a woman in the early Greek societies it was a hard life, but sadly their legal status and rights were even more disappointing.
In this time women were on a tight leash at all times and were very limited. Women were not allowed to choose who they wanted to marry. The marriages were always arranged. Women could not inherit property from their fathers or husbands. Women could only inherit property from their brothers. There were many inequalities between male in female in this time. Men had total control over all property. Because of the marriage arrangements sometimes there were ridiculously scary age gaps. This problem caused many deaths because girls who just hit puberty would be child bearing and was sometimes just way too young to handle a child. In ancient Greece women had no role in politics; they basically had to keep all their thoughts and ideas to themselves. Women were restricted from buying anything, although they could own things. Women could own things such as clothes, jewelry, and slaves. They also could not own any land or contract. Being a strong female leader in this society was hard and fairly unknown of.
Women were kept in the house for many safety reasons. Although men were trying to keep their women from the dangerous outside world many husbands would rape their wives in their own home. Women always worked inside the house unless granted permission to do things outside. Women occupied themselves with nurturing children, cleaning, ordering their slave around, and any other necessary jobs that needed to be done on a daily basis. A huge factor in a classical Greek women’s life was to carry on the father’s name. To do so the father wanted sons. Father’s would be ashamed of their daughters and sometimes not even count them as their own. In Sparta the only people that had tombs when they died in memory of them, were those who either died in war or women who died of childbirth. Women of Sparta would try to learn how to wrestle like men and become tough so that they would be prepared for childbirth and that the children they produced were tough too. Obviously the life of a classical Greek woman was stressful and grueling.
Women were not allowed to participate in things in the community that men were involved in. It seemed that people were ridiculously sexist in this time period, and women were hated against. Because Sparta’s women were allowed to do more things the one of the activities they were allowed to be a part of was athletics. Women would participate in games such as races for two horsed chariots. Another role that women had in the community was working outdoors. Poor women worked outdoors. These women would work hard in markets and things like that, although if a woman was poor but fortunate enough to be pretty they would entertain by singing, dancing, or playing music. Some would go to parties and entertain men; wealthy women looked down on these women and were proud of being respectable women of upper-class.
In ancient Greece, Greek women had a huge impact on mythology, drama, and philosophy. “Myths about goddesses and heroines, plays dramatizing their exploits and struggles, and the writings of Plato, Aristotle, and other philosophers are among the major surviving written sources that refer to ancient Greek women” (Nardo 69). In Greek mythology the goddesses were good and bad role models to women of
Women of Ancient Greece. Photograph by Tiana
ancient Greece. A lot of the stories of Greek mythology followed the same concept of always having a male-dominating society. One goddess that was looked at as a positive role model was Athena. This was from a male’s prospective, they thought this because she was a virgin, a good housewife, hardworking, powerful, and a good model of what a respectable ancient Greek woman should be. Because women had barely any rights or say in society they surprisingly did have importance in performing arts and drama of ancient Greece. If you study Greek’s writing of plays you would be able to tell that most of their plays have something to do with women whether it’s about a women’s rights or issues and conflicts between men and women. Although the whole play could have been about women, during this time women were not allowed to be in the play and had to stay backstage. Because women were not allowed to perform as a part of the play men would dress as women. In ancient Greece women had a part to do with society. Plato was almost known as one of Greek’s first feminist. He believed that women should have more rights and is capable of more things then they get credit for. Although Plato said these things he still wasn’t a true feminist because he didn’t believe women were equal to men. Aristotle was one of Plato’s best pupils. He would listen to Plato and learn from him although he firmly believed that Men were meant to rule and women were meant to obey. Women in ancient Greece weren’t that affective in the community, but mythology, philosophy, and drama was a place where ancient Greek women had a huge impact on.
Cho, Anna. "History: Women in Ancient Greece." Pace University Webspace. Web. 07 Dec. 2011. <http://webpage.pace.edu/nreagin/F2004WS267/AnnaCho/finalHISTORY.html>. Scott, Michael. "The Rise of Women in Ancient Greece." EBSCO Publishing Service Selection Page. Nov. 2009. Web. 14 Dec. 2011. <http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?vid=6>. "Women in Ancient Greece." Ancient Greece. Google, 30 Oct. 2011. Web. 14 Dec. 2011. <http://www.ancient-greece.us/women.html>. Nardo, Don. Women of Ancient Greece. Sandiego: Lucent, 2000. Print. Powell, Anton. Ancient Greece. 3rd ed. New York: Chelsea House, 2007. Print.
Women of Ancient Greece had hard lives; they were treated as objects and were discriminated against because of their gender. Imagine being treated as an object, never being independent, and demanded to abide by certain rules. Although it was hard, over time their life gradually became better after trudging through some hard and painful times.
Women in early Greek societies were seen as objects, for example marriage in Ancient Greece. When the women were getting married the father would give her to the husband. Women never had a chance to be independent; they were always owned by someone whether it is their Father, husband, or male relative. Males were always over protective over women. Most women remained within their household. Although women in early Greek societies that were seen on the streets were either a prostitute, a slave, or so poor they are left on their own. Another
In this time women were on a tight leash at all times and were very limited. Women were not allowed to choose who they wanted to marry. The marriages were always arranged. Women could not inherit property from their fathers or husbands. Women could only inherit property from their brothers. There were many inequalities between male in female in this time. Men had total control over all property. Because of the marriage arrangements sometimes there were ridiculously scary age gaps. This problem caused many deaths because girls who just hit puberty would be child bearing and was sometimes just way too young to handle a child. In ancient Greece women had no role in politics; they basically had to keep all their thoughts and ideas to themselves. Women were restricted from buying anything, although they could own things. Women could own things such as clothes, jewelry, and slaves. They also could not own any land or contract. Being a strong female leader in this society was hard and fairly unknown of.
Women were kept in the house for many safety reasons. Although men were trying to keep their women from the dangerous outside world many husbands would rape their wives in their own home. Women always worked inside the house unless granted permission to do things outside. Women occupied themselves with nurturing children, cleaning, ordering their slave around, and any other necessary jobs that needed to be done on a daily basis. A huge factor in a classical Greek women’s life was to carry on the father’s name. To do so the father wanted sons. Father’s would be ashamed of their daughters and sometimes not even count them as their own. In Sparta the only people that had tombs when they died in memory of them, were those who either died in war or women who died of childbirth. Women of Sparta would try to learn how to wrestle like men and become tough so that they would be prepared for childbirth and that the children they produced were tough too. Obviously the life of a classical Greek woman was stressful and grueling.
Women were not allowed to participate in things in the community that men were involved in. It seemed that people were ridiculously sexist in this time period, and women were hated against. Because Sparta’s women were allowed to do more things the one of the activities they were allowed to be a part of was athletics. Women would participate in games such as races for two horsed chariots. Another role that women had in the community was working outdoors. Poor women worked outdoors. These women would work hard in markets and things like that, although if a woman was poor but fortunate enough to be pretty they would entertain by singing, dancing, or playing music. Some would go to parties and entertain men; wealthy women looked down on these women and were proud of being respectable women of upper-class.
In ancient Greece, Greek women had a huge impact on mythology, drama, and philosophy. “Myths about goddesses and heroines, plays dramatizing their exploits and struggles, and the writings of Plato, Aristotle, and other philosophers are among the major surviving written sources that refer to ancient Greek women” (Nardo 69). In Greek mythology the goddesses were good and bad role models to women of
Cho, Anna. "History: Women in Ancient Greece." Pace University Webspace. Web. 07 Dec. 2011. <http://webpage.pace.edu/nreagin/F2004WS267/AnnaCho/finalHISTORY.html>.
Scott, Michael. "The Rise of Women in Ancient Greece." EBSCO Publishing Service Selection Page. Nov. 2009. Web. 14 Dec. 2011. <http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?vid=6>.
"Women in Ancient Greece." Ancient Greece. Google, 30 Oct. 2011. Web. 14 Dec. 2011. <http://www.ancient-greece.us/women.html>.
Nardo, Don. Women of Ancient Greece. Sandiego: Lucent, 2000. Print.
Powell, Anton. Ancient Greece. 3rd ed. New York: Chelsea House, 2007. Print.